Web Reviews
Rebecca Arkenberg
The Noguchi Museum
www.noguchi.org
The Noguchi Museum in Long
Island City, New York, presents a
comprehensive collection of the
works of Isamu Noguchi (1904–
1988) in stone, metal, wood, and
clay, as well as models for public
projects and gardens, dance sets,
and Akari Light Sculptures. Cre-
ated by Isamu Noguchi in 1985,
the museum is housed in thirteen
galleries within a converted factory
building, including a sculpture gar-
den. While most of the museum’s
website ( www.noguchi.org) is aimed
at the general public or researcher,
it does include a curriculum guide
( www.noguchi.org/education/curric-ulum.html) for teachers that brings
key ideas from Noguchi’s life and
work into the classroom. Divided
into grade levels, each section of
the guide includes background and
biography information and a sample
lesson. For grades pre-K– 2 the lesson What Is a Garden? can be used
to prepare students for a visit to
this museum or any park or garden.
Grades 3– 5 explore art materials
and collaboration through a collage
activity. Grades 6– 8 are introduced
to the concept of Art for Everyone,
and the lesson focuses on creating
one’s own museum. Grades 9– 12
investigate Identity and Sculpting
Spaces, culminating in the creation
of a personal object.
The interactive feature
SculptureScape ( www.noguchi.
org/education/ sculpturescape.html)
allows you to create your own virtual sculpture by manipulating a
shape. Options include making the
shape solid or outlined, bending
or changing different areas of the
shape, selecting colors and fill, etc.
A shadow of the object appears and
automatically adjusts as the shape
changes, and the background can
reflect different environments, so
that you can view your sculpture
against city buildings or mountains
64 SchoolArts August/September 2007
and mesas. The virtual sculpture
can be saved, and a pop-up screen
invites you to write a poem about it.
The inclusion of shadows and different backgrounds makes this feature
particularly useful for the study of
outdoor sculptures.
—Rebecca Arkenberg is a museum consul-
tant from Stratford, Connecticut.
Video Reviews
Sharon Warwick
I Am Clay: The Power of Natural
Clay in Early Child Development.
DVD. 30 min., $29.99. K-play, 2006.
In this moving and inspirational
DVD, teachers will learn how the
use of “real” clay as a source for
investigation in early childhood
evokes tremendous satisfaction
and deep learning. This captivating
documentary demonstrates how
clay facilitates creativity, develops
literacy skills, teaches problem-solving, promotes cooperation,
builds dexterity, and focuses atten-
tion. Particularly moving is the
experience of a child with visual
problems patting with elbows,
pinching, forming, and respond-
ing with delight to the clay. Each
viewing will offer new insights for
teachers as they encounter early
childhood experts, experience current research presented in a meaningful and moving way, and learn
workable techniques for teaching
clay to children. Clay motivates
children intrinsically and offers a
great curricular tool, and it is a creative material that is as therapeutic
as it is instructional.
Craft in America: Expanding
Traditions. Television Series &
DVD. PBS, 2007. $21.99 (DVD).
This national touring exhibition
and the PBS documentary series are
a celebration in praise of American
crafts and the amazing artists who
create them. They include a range
from objects for everyday use to
extraordinary handmade objects
that extend the historical and cul-
tural traditions of each artform.
These objects show how craft both
reflects and shapes our heritage and
culture.
The documentary series has
three themes: Memory, Commu-
nity, and Landscape. Memory traces
the way in which the objects reveal
our history and serve as evidence
of our existence as they are passed
on to others to serve as reminders
of the events of our lives. These
craft artists include great woodworkers like Sam Maloof, George
Nakashima, and Garry Knox Bennett, as well as basketmakers Mary
Jackson and Pat Courtney Gold, and
metalsmith Tom Joyce.
Community reveals how,
throughout time, craft has been
done in social communities of art-
ists. Sara Jaeger creates functional
ceramic ware in the Helena, Mon-
tana area where the Archie Bray
ceramic community thrives, and
Denise Wallace makes jewelry that
reflects her Native Alaskan culture.
Donna Look and Ken Loebar work
in Algoma, Wisconsin where Look
works with the native birch bark
to make vessels and Loebar creates masterful jewelry from natural
materials like pearl and coral.
